THE pilot who crashed his plane at the Shoreham Airshow, which left 11 people dead and 16 injured will claim he was disabled by the G-forces in his plane at the time of the crash, a court was told.

The eight week trial of pilot Andrew Hill, 54, is due to begin next week.

He faces 11 manslaughter by gross negligence charges, and one count of endangering an aircraft under air navigation laws following the crash on August 22 2015.

His Hawker Hunter jet crashed onto the A27, sending a fireball across the busy road.

He had been performing a loop-the-loop stunt at the popular air show when the crash happened.

Hill, a trained Royal Air Force instructor and fast jet pilot, was seriously injured but survived the tragedy after being thrown from the aircraft.

At a pre-trial hearing at the Old Bailey, Judge Andrew Edis, said the issue would be whether Hill was ‘at fault’.

He said: “The issue is whether Mr Hill was at fault or whether he was disabled by the G force.”

The trial is due to open on Wednesday January 16.

Those who died were Maurice Rex Abrahams, Dylan Archer, Anthony David Brightwell, Matthew James Grimstone, Matthew Wesley Jones, James Graham Mallinson, Mark Alexander Reeves, Jacob Henry Schilt, Richard Jonathan Smith, Mark James Trussler and Daniele Gaetano Polito.